Compressor 4.0.7: Basic troubleshooting

If Compressor 4.0.7 isn't performing as expected, try these basic troubleshooting steps to help isolate and resolve the issue. These general steps aren't meant to be comprehensive or address any particular issue.

Before you begin

Make a backup of your custom settings and layouts, located in Library/Application Support/Compressor/ in your Home folder. Custom settings are in the Settings folder and custom layouts are in the Layouts folder.

1. Restart your computer

Restarting your computer resets Compressor-related system resources. It's the simplest thing you can do to troubleshoot Compressor issues.

2. Review the product documentation

Review Compressor 4 Help to learn whether the behavior you're experiencing is normal and expected

3. Make sure that Compressor is up to date

If you're actively working on a transcoding project, avoid updating Compressor 4 until you're finished with the project. If you don't want to wait, make sure that you have a backup of Compressor 4 and your custom settings and layouts. You'll then be able to restore these items if the Compressor update doesn't resolve the issue.

7. Test by signing in to another user account

8. Remove the Apple Qmaster folder

Remove the Apple Qmaster folder from Library/Application Support/ in your Home folder.Compressor will automatically create a new Qmaster folder the next time you open the application.

Quit Compressor.

Hold down the Option key and choose Go > Library from the Finder menu bar.

The Library folder will open. Open the Application Support folder, then drag the Apple Qmaster folder to the Trash.

Restart your computer.

9. Reset Compressor preferences

Before resetting your preferences, take note of your current Compressor 4 preferences. Resetting the preferences causes each preference to return to the default setting. Also make sure that you have a current backup of your Compressor custom settings and layouts, located in Library/Application Support/Compressor/ in your home folder. Custom settings are in the Settings folder and custom layouts are in the Layouts folder. These articles help explain Compressor's preferences: Compressor 4: Set Compressor preferences and Compressor 4: Preferences window.

Quit Compressor.

Create a new folder on the desktop, and give the folder a name you'll remember, such as "Compressor 4 Preferences."

The Library folder will open. Open the Application Support folder, then drag these two folders to the folder you created in step 2:

Apple Qmaster

Compressor

Return to the Library folder and open the Preferences folder. Locate the following files (you may not have all of them) and drag each one to the folder you created in step 2:

com.apple.Compressor.plist

com.apple.Compressor.plist.lockfile

com.apple.Compressor.LSSharedFileList.plist

com.apple.Compressor.LSSharedFileList.plist.lockfile

Open Compressor and try to reproduce the issue. If the issue is resolved, you can return to the desktop and drag the folder you created in step 2 to the Trash.

10. Remove Compressor

Before removing Compressor, make sure that you have a current backup of the application. You should also have a backup of your custom settings and layouts, located in Library/Application Support/Compressor/ in your home folder. Custom settings are in the Settings folder and custom layouts are in the Layouts folder.